Leaders heed Commonwealth Conversation findings
Posted by AlexT - 30/11/09 at 05:11 pm
In a closing statement from the Port of Spain Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) yesterday, Commonwealth leaders recognised the work carried out by the Royal Commonwealth Society in the Commonwealth Conversation and called for the creation of an Eminent Persons’ Group to look at options for reform.
The Commonwealth Conversation is a global public consultation on the future of the Commonwealth which, so far, has engaged tens of thousands of people worldwide. Emerging findings were published last week ahead of the CHOGM in a report entitled ‘Common What?’. The report called for the Commonwealth to be bold in rebuilding its worryingly low profile, by focusing on three Ps: Principles, Priorities and People.
In the Trinidad & Tobago Affirmation on Commonwealth Values and Principles released yesterday, leaders took note of many of the major findings of the Conversation:
• They recognised the need to ‘enhance the public profile of the organisation’ and underscored ‘the importance of coherence in order to protect the Commonwealth’s image and credibility’.
• They restated the core values and principles of the Commonwealth, recognised the vital role of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) as their custodian, and called on CMAG ‘to explore ways in which it could effectively deal with the full range of serious or persistent violations of such values by member states’.
• They called for the Commonwealth Secretary-General to ‘consolidate and further strengthen ongoing efforts to improve the Secretariat’s governance [and] its responsiveness to changing priorities and needs’.
• They recognised the importance of the people in the Commonwealth and they ‘committed to securing a greater level of coordination and collaboration between all Commonwealth contributors and stake-holders, particularly including governments, civil society, business, the diversity of commonwealth professional and other associations that bring together our citizens, academia and others’.
The full declaration can be downloaded here
Category : homepage items, The Commonwealth's Relevance, The Official Commonwealth
Tags: CHOGM
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November 30th, 2009 at 7:11 pm
Very good – now who will be in the Eminent Persons’ Group?
The usual old farts? or some dynamic ideas men/women?
If the ideas arnt radical.. is there any point?
December 8th, 2009 at 11:26 am
yes quite, how many months will it take to setup this group?
After reading this statement I am reminded of a statement my dad often made. “They are just pissing into the wind to see how wet they get”
meaning in this case that they are no time-lines named, no people named for the group, no name for such group, no chairperson named. No real action, just a call.
I can make the same statment with the same effect.
In fact I think The Royal Commonwealth Society did make the same call, which has just been echoed not really acted on.
Sounds to me more like a bunch of hot air with little or no direction.
I really do look forward to action not words in this occasion.
December 8th, 2009 at 11:36 am
Sorry, my appologies, it’s called “Eminent Persons’ Group”. And yes it consists of lords and ladies. All very good, but what action are they gonna take?
the format, frequency, and content of Ministerial meetings in order to ensure that these continue to support the Commonwealth’s values and principles, and provide the greatest possible addition of value and cost-effectiveness.
Value and Cost-effectiveness? not really the right choice of words for a dying institution to use when talking about turning round it’s popularity.
2 billion people get to use a corner shop, not a chain of supermarkets.
December 14th, 2009 at 1:12 am
The point is, something has been done, and that’s better than absolutely nothing. I hope we’ll see the results well publicised for a change.
December 18th, 2009 at 9:28 pm
As a young person I am concerned that one
how many young people will be included in the group?
will their voices be heard?
and having heard them; will their opinions be considered?
December 19th, 2009 at 3:14 am
The Principles affirmed include “sustainable development” Has the Commonwealth stated what it is doing to foster sustainable development. The outcome of the UN sponsored Conference on Climate Change will in my view, have an enormous impact on the direction individual countries will take in developing approaches to sustainable development. The Commonwealth should examine the role it could take in this. We owe it to the emerging generation.
December 19th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
Fantastic. I think you have done brilliantly well.. and the question is now WHAT NEXT? who is this group and what will they say?
December 22nd, 2009 at 10:44 am
Can someone help me find the proceedings and or the agenda of the CMAG meetings in the Commonwealth Secretariat website? I’ve been trying a great deal but no success.
December 23rd, 2009 at 6:56 am
How can one contact CMAG please?
December 23rd, 2009 at 7:09 am
CMAG needs to be reviewed and strengthened By Maja Daruwala, Executive Director, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, 20 October 2009:
”14 years on from CMAGs birth it is yet to go beyond scrutinising cases where there have been unconstitutional overthrows of governments”
In Sri Lanka, the Northeast has been under army occupation for more than forty years though the rest of the country may be said to be a ”democracy”:
Ethnic Conflict and Economic Development- A POLICY ORIENTED ANALYSIS, John Richardson(1996) “Democracy alone cannot ensure ethnic harmony. Instead, it may allow freer expression of ethnic antagonisms and legalised persecution of minorities. In Sri Lanka, both S.W.R.D. and Sirimavo Bandaranaike won democratic elections by appealing to Buddhist-Sinhalese nationalist sentiments and denigrating the ethnic Tamils. Slobodan Milosevic, the former Communist Party Chief of Serbia and General Franjo Tudjman of Croatia won their presidencies by appealing to the most divisive aspects of Serbian and Croatian nationalism”.
Will 2010 bring a change in the lives of Sri Lankan Tamils?
December 24th, 2009 at 8:53 am
Vino
I cannot also find such info. Who can help us?
December 24th, 2009 at 8:55 am
We must be able to find out the agenda of past CMAG meetings.
Transparency?
December 24th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
Vino and Davidson
i also wish to know the agenda of CMAG meetings at least in the last 5/6 years but unable to find it on Commonwealth sevretariat website. pl let m eknow when you find.
December 26th, 2009 at 1:50 am
Vino, Davidson and Lisa
I too wish to know whay CMAG has been doing in its meetings. It isn’t available on Commonwealth Secretariat website.
January 19th, 2010 at 2:05 pm
Hi, AlexT,
Can you help Vino, Davidson, Lisa and me in finding out the CMAG agendas of the last 5/6 years please?
January 25th, 2010 at 10:51 am
Hello all.
I’m writing on behalf of the Commonwealth Conversation Team- you can view the statements made at the conclusion of every Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group meeting at this link:
http://www.thecommonwealth.org/Internal/190691/190842/38125/141670/list_of_meetings/
January 25th, 2010 at 11:58 am
At last!! Archive of CMAG meetings on website!!
Are we supposed to assume that the concluding statements reflect the agenda?
It would be really good to see the agenda of each meeting too.